ON MOTHER GOOSE'S NURSERY

RHYMES“AS MAINLY SEEN FROM “ALINGUISTIC VIEWPOINT

Shigeru Watanabe

gl． lntroduction ． The purpose of this paper is to see Mother Goose's nursery rhymes

mainly from linguistic point of view． The total number of Mother Goose's

rhymes is supposed to be close to one thousand， some of which had been

translated into Japanese． Tracing the history of Japanese translations of

Mother Goose's rhymes， we find that the first important one was made by

HakushU Kitahara （1885-1942）， a famous poet in the Taisho era． He

translated one hundred and thirty-three Mother Goose's rhymeS and

made a Japanese version of them， which was published by，the ‘Ars'

Bookshop in Tokyo about the end of 1921． lt is now but of．print， but

much the same edition is availab1e in the Kadokawa Library． Thes econd

important rendering・of Mother Goose's rhymes was， done by S6fu

Taketomo （1891-1954） in 1921， who was also a noted poet of modern

Japan and a scholar on English literature．

It might be said that by these two translations Mother Goose's nursery

rhymes began to be introduced to the reading public of Japan， but to our

regret they called forth little response either in the reading public in

general or in the learned circles of English lirerature in Japan． But in

1971， Shuntar6 Tanigawa （1931一）， a poet， made a new translation of Mother

Goose”s nursery rhymes-we are sorry to say ' 狽?≠?the number of them

was only fifty-which was published by the Chu6k6ron publishing com-

pany． This was followed by his recent version of Mother Goose's rhymes，

which was published in five volumesCl｝ by the S6shisha publishing company

（1） The number of the rendered rhymes amounts to 175．

（，389 ）

in 1975． This Version of Mr． Tanigawa's， together with some others，

won a sudden and tremendous popularity among the readers of Japan，

the popularity which has kept on ever since．

g 2． The World of Mother Goose's Nursery Rhymes

The world of Mother Goose's nursery rhymes is not only the world

which de' ≠窒撃?appeals to each and every heart of English-speaking countries，

especially of Great Britain， but also is the world which has some' 狽?奄獅?to

do with the distant memories cherished by all human beings of their

forefathers．

Mrs． Y6ko Kirishima， a Japanese woman critic， says in her essay，

Mother Goose and liler Three Little Pigs （July， 31， 1977） now appearing

serially in the Asahi：

“1'have keenly realized， while living in， the U．S．， how deeply a whole

collection of nursery rhymes called ‘Mother' foose'， passed on orally for

centuries， has filtered into the linguistic life of the people of England and

America． For us to read and understand English and American literary

works， the knowledge of the Bible and ‘Mother Goose' is indispensable．

For instance， most Americans who read the headline， ‘Then there

were none，' over the article about the collapse of the Nixon dynasty in the

newspaper， are supposed to think instantly of Ten little lniuns，｛2） one of

Mother Goose's nursery rhymes， which is very humourous and very

ominous at the same time， and in which ‘ten little lnjuns' disappear one

by one， ‘one choking his little self， one swallowed by a red herring， one

hugged by a big bear， and none remaining at last． Moreover， there may

be not a few who are reminded of And Then There vaere None， one of

Agatha Christie's masterpieces， which makes fu11 use of this nursery rhyme

as exercising a frightfu1 and horrid impression upon the reader．”（3）

（2） Of this there is a different and more popular version， the first linb of which

is ‘Ten little nigger boys went out to dine，' which， it seems， Mrs． Kirishima

should have quoted here， judging' from her foltowing words．

（3） This is my Japanese rendering of an outline of Mrs． Kifishinia's essay． All

errors， if any， in this 'translation are， of co'urse， my own． ．

（390）

§3．The Contents of Mother Goose's R、hymes

As Mrs． Kirishirpa says， a huge mass of Mother Goose，s nursery rhymes

are a cultural heritage which the people of English-speaking countries

possess in common， and out of which most of them often form their ideas

and build their linguistic expressions．

Most of Mother GQose，s rhymes were first recorded after the beginning

of the eighteenth century， but some of them come from untraceable anti．

ノ

quity． Accordingly we can read in thern some or other events which

happened while the English people were still in the dark gloom of history，

their ancient custorns， and the naive feelings they had in those early days．

If we want to know what Mother Goose，s nursery rhylnes are， there

wi11 be no better review of them than the one in the form of an advertise-

ment fbr HakushU Kitahara，s Mo ther Goose which was put by the IArs'

Bookshop in the！lkai-tori：（4｝

‘‘Mo ther Goose is a world-famous collection of those nursery rhymes

which have been loved by the children of耳ngland and America since

very early times． In this collection we find those rhym、es which are strange，

beautifu1， Iaughable， nonsensical， amusing， irritating， exciting laughter

or making us inclined to sing，（5」we丘nd in them‘the cow jumping over the

．moon，，〔6）‘the bells of St． Peter's which say‘Pancakes and fritters，，（7｝‘an

old woman toss，d up in a basket， Ninety times幽as high as the rnoon， to

brush the cobwebs off the sky，（8）alittle husband No bigger than my thumb，〔9｝

‘the mad father， the mad mother， and a11 their mad children riding away

madly upon a mad horse，，αΦand so on．，，⑪

The above・quotation from the advertisement for HakushU Kitahara，s

Mother Goose has some signs of it having bee耳 written by HakushU himself，

響

））4ド0

（（

（6）

（7）

（8）

（9），

（10）

（11）

The magazine which'was' 唐狽≠窒狽??by Miekichi Suzuki （1882-1936） in 1918．

These epithets aptly describes the characteristics of Mother Goose's nursery

rhymes， but 1 should like to add another one， ‘weird' or ‘uncanny'．

‘Hey， diddle， diddle， the cat and the fiddle' （the first line of the rhyme）．

‘Gay go Up 'and gay go down' （ditto）

‘There was an old woman toss'd up in a basket' （ditto）．

‘1 had a little husband' （ditto）．

There was a mad man' （ditto）．

This is my translation， to which 1 am responsible for all errors， if any．

（ 391 ）

because it consists mostly of the same expressions that are used in the

‘Preface' of his Mother Goose version．

Next， 1 should like to quote a beautifu1 comment on Mother Goose

by Walter de la Mare （1873-1956）， an English poet．

Her （i．e．' Mother Goose's） rhymes， he writes， “free the fancy， charm

tongue and ear， delight the inward eye， and ・many of them are tiny master一

・pieces of word ．craftsmanship-of the latest device in rhythn， indeed-the

‘sprung'！ Last，' @but not least， they are not only crammed with vivid little

scenes and ・objects and living creatures， bUt，' however fantastic and non-

sensical they may be， they are a direct short cut into poetry itsel£ How

any child who was ever delightedly dandled to their strains can have

managed to grow up proof against their enchantment， and． steadily and

desperately more and more matter-of-fact and prosaic， is a question to

which 1 can find no satisfactory answer．”aZ

§4．Tbe Meaning of伽Term‘Mot血er Goose'

What・does the term Mother Goose mean， and how did it originate P

To state our．conclusion first， it is a legendary name given to the author of a

collection of nursery rhymes passed on orally in England and America．

Tlze Ran伽z House．Dictionary（ゾthe English Language says that‘Mother

Goose'is the legendary author of the collection of nursery rhymes first

published in English（1760）under the titlel of Mother Goo∫θ，s Melody．⑬

'In England，．however， the rhymes are known as nothing but‘nursery rhy一

！nes， C and in America as‘Mother Goose Songs'． The term‘Mother、

Goose， seems to have originated not in England but in：France． To be

more precise， Charles Perrault's研∫彦oires ou contes du te吻s passe'，碍θ6伽 な

魏07αZ薦gwas publis1｝ed in France in 1697， the frontispiece of which had

the legend contes de祝α魏δ7θ10ッθ（tales of my mother goose）． In 1729

there began to appear English translations of these tales， the title for which

（12）

a3）

From his introduction to Nursery Rhymesfor Certain Times （London： Faber

8i Faber， Ltd．， 1956）．

Mother Goose's Melody or， Sonnets for the Cradle， London： published'by

John Newbery． The year 1765 is generally accepted as a reasonable date

for this book， probably the first “Mother Goose” book， perhaps edited by

Oliver Goldsmith． No copies of the first printing have survived．

（392）

was variously rendered as Tales of Passed Times by Mother Goose or Mother

Goose's Tales． This would seem to have been the first use of the term

Mother Goose in England， but Perrault's works were fairy tales in prose

and not nursery rhymes．

The first nursery rhyme book entitled Mother Goose appeared in c．

1765， when the British publisher John Newbery， probably inspired by

the titles of the above-mentioned English versions of Perrault's tales，

printed a small collection of nursery rhymes entitled Mother Goose's

Melody．働

The next famous book in the bilbliogr'aphical history of the collections

of nursery rhymes was edited by James Orchard Halliwell （1820-89）， who

was then a young man of twenty-two， but was later to become a world-

renowned Shakespearean scholar． It was The Nursery Rhymes of Englana，

which was published in 1842， including more than 600 verses， and inter-

spersed with notes about the 'age and origins of them． Since that time，

no attempt had been made to continue his work， but about the middle of

this century the Opies （i．e． Iona and Peter Opie） edited The Oxford Diction-

ary of Nursery Rhymes （1951）， which is by far the most comprehensive

and authoritative collection of nursery rhymes ever published．'

隔

g 5． Age of Mother Goose's Rhymes

How ancient can some of Mother Goose nursery 'rhymes actually be？

Most of them were first recorded after the beginning of the eighteenth

century， but some number of them suggest or indi6ate their cQming from

earlier times or a certain antiquity， into which we are going to inquire

from literary， linguistic and some other angles． The Opies，a5 whose work

on nursery rhymes includes everything， says that nearly one in four of all

the rhymes are believed to have been known while Shakespeare was still

a young man， and cbncludes that a quarter of the verses originated before

1600， another quarter in the seventeenth century， and another forty per

cent in the eighteenth century．

（14 This contains 52 verses． tas） lona and Peter Opie， the distinguished editors of The Oooford Dictionary

Nutsery Rhymes．

（ 393 ）

（a） ‘Who killed Cock Robin！'ae is a typical example that indicates a

certain antinquity， int' ?窒獅≠撃撃?and externally． '

Who killed Cock Robin？

1， said the Sparrow，

With my bow ， and arrow，

1 killed Cock Robin．

'

Who saw him die？

1， said the Fly，

With my little eye，

1 saw him die．

Who caught his blood？

1， said the Fish，

With my little dish，

1 caught his blood．

Who'11 ． make the shrQud？

1， said the Beetle，

With may thread and needle，

1'11 make the shroud．

Who'11 dig his grave？

1， said the Owl，

With血y pick and shove1，

1'11 dig his grave．

This rhyme was first recorded in 1744， but only the first four stanzas

appear in Tommy Thumb's Pretty Song Book， the earliest record 'of the

entire rhyme consisting of 14 stanzas being found in Tommy Thumb's

Sbng Bookfor all-little Masters and Misses in 1788． ln stanza five， however'，

a6） The first line of one of Mother Goose's rhymes．

（ 394 ）

Owl is rhymed With Shovel． This seerns to be an indication that the rhy血e

may go back to the fourteenth century in the light of the histony．' of English

sounds． The reason is that during the period from the fourteenth century

to the 16th century， owl had the form and the pronunciation oule ［u：1］，

while shovel， though mainly in the northern dialect， had schole ［fu：1］ during

the period from the 13th to the 16th century and schule ［fu：1］ in the 14th

and 16th ceturies． Moreover， the Opies says that “the rhyme is depicted

in a丘fteenth century stained-glass windows at Buckland Recto］呼， Glouces-

ter， England， and a bird is there shown pierced through the heart with

an arrow，． and the painter has given the bird the markings of a robin．”aO

（b） Old Mother Hubbard

Went to the cupboard，

To fetch her dog a bone；

But when she came there

t

The cupboard was bare

And so the pooir dog had none．

She went to the baker's

To buy him some bread；

But when she came back

The poor dog was dead．

She went to the undertaker's

To buy him a coflln

But when she came back

The poor dog was laughing．

a＆一 一 一 一 一 i 一 一 一 一 一 一 一 一 一 t 一 一 一 一 一 一 一 一 e 一 一 “ 一 一 一 一 一

This rhyme was composed by Sarah Catherine Martin （1768一一1826），

an early love of Prince．William Henry， afterwards William IV， king of

England （1830-37）， a little inspired by nursery rhymes then in existence．

But the first three stanzas seem to be of some antiquity，' as James Orchard

（IT lona and Peter Opie， The Oxford Dictionary of Nursery Rhymes， p． 132．

（18） One of Mdther Goose's rhymes， consisting of 14 stanzas．

t

（395）

Halliwella9 copsiders， judging from the rhyme laughing to coffin in the

'third stanza． For example， in the old editions of Shakespeare's A Mid-

sum．mer Night's Dream， loffe， which is an Early Modern English word for

laugh， is made to rhyme with coffe （＝cough） （See ‘loffe' in C．T． Onions，

A Shakespeare． Glossary）：

And ‘tailor' cries， and falls into a cough，'

And then the quire hold their hips and laugh，

一（A Midsz｛mmer Night's Dream， I I． i． 54-5）

Since the publication of the above rhyme （in a toy book， The Comic

Adve伽res（ゾOldルfother Hubbard and Her．D㎎，1805），‘01d Mother

HUbbard' has taken a leading place among the characters of Mother

Goose' ?nursery rhymes． But the name Mother． Hubbard itself was not

-new， like Tom Thumb and Mother Bunch， Edmund Spenser's satire

Mother Hubberd's Tale having been produced in 1590．

（c） Jack and．Jill went up the hill

To fetch a pail of water；

Jack fell down and broke his crown，

And Jill came tumbling after．

Up Jack got， and home did trot，

As fast as he could caper，

To old Dame Dob， who patched his nob

With vinegar and brown paper．

This nursery rhyme

The' editor of The Nursery Rbymes of England， 1842．

One of Mother Goose's rhymes， consisting of 3 stanzas．

（ 396 ）

Then Jill came in，

And she did．grin，

To see Jack's paper plaster；

Her mother whipt her，

Across her knee，

For latighing at Jack's disaster．eo）

was first recorded in John Newbery's Mother

OUO

α⑫

Goose's Melody （c． 1765）， but'it seems to have-originated in the first half

of the seventeenth century， judging from the irhyming of water ［wd：te］

with after ［d：to］ in the first stanza．

The Reverend Sabine Baring-Gould thought this rhyme to be of

great antiquity， and Lewis Spence （Myth and Ritual， 1947） says that some

ancient mystic ceremony'may be traced in this rhyme， for “no one in the

folk-10re sense climbs「to the top of a hill for water unless that water has

special significance．”

（d） Eena， meena， mina，' mo，

Catch a nigger by his toe；

If he squeals， let him go，

Eena， meena， mina， mo．？D

This is the most popular counting-out rhyme both in England and

Arnerica， its use being now almost universal among the children of English-

speaking countries． The origin of this rhyme is-Anglo-American， in

that the first and last lines come from old Britain， and the second and third

lines from New England． Many counting-out rhymes in Mother Goose

are simple exercises in recreational mathematics to select an individual

impartially． ‘Eena， meena， mina， mo'， though they are seemingly nonsense

words， conceal memories of ancient numerals of Celtic origin． ‘Hickory，

dickory， dock'，eZ the first line of another counting-out rhyme in Mother

Goose， is a garbled version of the numerals eight， nine， ten．

Hickory， dickory， dock，

The mouse ran up the clock．

The clock struck one，

The mouse ran down，

Hickory， dickory， dock．

The Opies refers to this rhyme as follows：

20 One of Mother ' Goose's rhymes．

2Z Westmorland shepherds' telling numbers 'include Hevera （8）， Devera （9），

and Dick（10）， numerals which are not inappropriate in connexion with a

clock．

（ 397 ）

“ ‘Hickory， dickory， dock，' another nursery favourite， is reminiscent of

8，9， and 10 of the Westmorland score． lt seems certain that if further sets

of early numerals were known， more children's rhymes could be・identified

as coming from them． The theory is that， when the Romans and then'the

Saxons invaded and occupied Britain， it was in Scotland， in Wales， and

in the west country that the Celt＄ managed to retain their language and

customs． The rest， in the coyrse of years， came more and more completely

under the influence of their conquerors． An exception was those whose

work was lonely and who were left unmolested， particularly by the Rotnans，

becauSe of their value to the garrisons in supplying provisions： such were

the stock-breeders． This is demonstrated by the snatches of language

preserved through almost two millenniums by （i） people living in Moun-

tainous and outlandish parts， （ii） shepherds， （iii） children in the games．

For children， as has been noted， are conservative and exact， and tend to be

in touch with the， non-working （oldes't） members of the family， who them-

selves delight in recounting their earliest memories．” （The Oxford Dictionary

（～プエ＞d4rser． ：ソRhツmes， PP．14-15）．

g6． Mother Goose's Language

Mother Goose's nursery rhymes have some usages of their own．

（a） Three little kittens they lost their mittens，

And they began to cry，

Oh， mother dear， we sadly fear

That we have lost our rhittens．

What！ lost your mittens， you naughty kittens！

Then you shall have no pie．

'・ Mee-ow， mee-ow， mee-ow．

No， you sha11 have no piee3

In the first line of the above rhyme， ‘Three little kittens' is in apposi-

tion to ‘they'， which is the subj ect of the sentence． ln other words， ‘Three

little kittens' is an appositive qualifying ‘they'， which is the head-word for

e3） One of Mother Goose's rhymes， consisting of 4 stanzas．

・ （398）

it． The usages of the above type are not only peculiar to Mother Goose's

nursery rhymes， but also to ballads． Some other examples of the same

type are as follows：

（i）

（ii）

（iii）

（iv）

（v）

（vi）

（vii）

Tom， he was a piper's son，ca

A frong， he Would a-wooing go，2S

The cat she seized the rat by the crown，ee

Then this little maid she said，eO

Then the little man he sighed，eg

Every fiddler， he had a fiddleeg

Anna Elise， she jumped with surprise，39

（b） ln Mother Goose's rhymes， nonsensical words are often used for

the sake of rhyming．

Little Miss Muffet

Sat on a tuffet，

Eating her curds and whey；

There came'a big spider，

Who sat down beside her

And frightened Miss Muffet away．Bab

This rhyme provides suitable material for speculat'ion of a linguistic

problem above-mentioned． As to ‘tuffet' in the second line， many Mother

Goose's books have an illustration of Miss Muffet seated on a three-legged

stoo1， b叫as many others show her perched on a grassy hillock． The

①励研

りW⑫⑫

tz7）

es）

29）

（30）

（31）

The first line of one of Mother Goose's rhymes．

The first line of one of Mother Goose's rhymes．

The first line of the 11th stanza of the above rhyme ‘A frog he would

a-wooing go．'

The first line of the 2nd stanza of the rhyme ‘There was a little man，

And he wooed a little maid，'

The first line of the 5th stanza of the previous rhyrne．，

The first line of the 2nd stanza of the rhyme ‘Old King Cole．'

The first line of one of Mother Goose's rhymes．

One of Mother Goose's rhymes．

（399）

Oxford Englis．h Dictionary defines ‘tuffet' as follows： ． ．

‘tuffet'＝（i） a hillock， mound． ．（ii）？ a hassock pr footstool．

（Doubtfu1： perhaps due to misunderstanding of ，the nursery rhyme，

which maY belong to sense （i）），

and it gives the above rhyme as an example．

We can find similar nonsensical usages in some yariations of this，

rhyme．

James O． Halliwell gives us as the opening lines of・this rhyme：

Little Mary Ester

Sat on a tester一（1812）

arid Boyd Smith gives as an “older vcrsion”：

Little， Miss Mopsey，

Sat in the shopsey一（1842）

Both words， ‘tester' and ‘shopsey' in the above verses， are considered

to be used for the sake of rhyming， having no materi'al 'meanings．

（c） Then the little man so gent，

Made the' little maid relent '

And set her little soul a-thinking， king， king； '

Though his little was but small，

Yet she had his little all，

And could have of a cat but her skin， skin， skin．eZ

In the final line of this stanza， the phrase ‘of a cat' is called ‘the parti一・

tive genitive， in terms of grammar， and is used as the obj ect of the verb

‘have，' to which Leon Kellner gives the term ‘the一 elliptic genitive' in his

Historical Outlines of Engldsh Syntax （g 177）． He says that in this・phrase

the governing word is pmitted． He seems to mean that' ‘some' should be

understood as the headword before the genitive． From a historical point

（32） The 6th stanza of the rhyme ‘There was a litt1e' man， And he wooed a

little maid，'

（． 400 ）

t

of view， of-phrase has taken the place of the pure genitive since Middle

English ：

Of SMale houndes， had she， that she fedde

With rosted flesh， （＝she had some small dogs which sihe fed

with roasted flesh）

G．Chaucer， Th2 Can彦θγ伽ッTales，‘Prologue，，」1．146-76

g 7． From a Semantic Viewpoint

Professor Stephen Ullmann says， “ lt has been realized for a long

time， and has been strongly re-emphasized in recent years， that langUage

is not merely a vehicle of communication： it is also a means of expressing

emotions and arousing them'in others．”e3

He also says in another part （p．129） of the same book， ‘An early seman-

ticist， K．O． Erdmann， recognized three factors ： ‘essential or central meaning，'

‘applied or contextual meaning'， and ‘feeling tone'． ln recent years，

a number of more・complex schemes have been put forward； one of the

latest would distinguish between no less than nine different components

of meaning．”

We think that in the above-mentioned ‘applied or contextual meaning'

may be included the knowledge of Mother Goose's rhymes， without which

we shall sometimes be unable to gain a fu11 understanding of English used．

We ate going to give below some examples to verify this view．

（a） Humpty ・Dumpry sat on a wall，

，Humpty Dumpty had a gteat fall．

All the king's horses，

And all the king's men，

Couldn't put Humpty together again．pt

This rhyme is a riddle， and the answer iS that Humpty Dumpty is an

egg． That explains why， having once fallen and broken， he could not

（33｝Stephen UIImann，ε6脚蛎。∫，！勉1勿α加'加'o孟乃θβ'6蜘68げMeaning

（Basil Blackwell， Oxford； 1972）， p． 128．

（3¢ Ope of the most popular Mother Goose's rhymes．

（401）

be put together again． What is more， ‘Humpty Dumpty' is one of Mother

Goose's characters made the more famous by Lewis Carroll in his Through

the Looking-Glass． That is why ‘Humpty Dumpty' is often' alluded

to by many as a favourite character symbolizing ‘irreversibility'．

‘FAII species are potential Humpty Dumpty's． The process of evolu-

tion， as we know them， wi11 not put them together again on this planet once

they are destroyed．” （Time， June 8， 1970）

・The above quotation is from the book by Dr． Ehrenfeld， an American ．

biologist， probably discussing the environmental polluti'on．

The phrase ‘all the king's men'eS is often used as an allusion， like Robert

Penn Warren's novel」 All the King's Men， which was awarded a Pulitzer

We think that the knowledge of． this rhyme is indispensable to the

reading of such a book as All the President's Menee by C． Bernstein and

B． Woodward， American j ournalists， as it treats of the Watergate scandal

and the collapse of the dynasty of the ex-President Nixon， the name of

the book itself being a parody of ‘all the king's men．'

（b）‘Who killed Cock RobinP， is， as is often the case輌th fa血ous

nursery rhymes， parodied in various ways：

）●1昌

（ ‘Who killed Home Rule？' （The People， 1886）．

（ii） ‘Who'11 ki11 infiation？' （issued by His Maj esty's Govern-

ment of Great Bitain， 1948）． ・

（iii） ‘Who kill'd John Keats？

1 says the Quarterly，

So Savage and Tartarly；

‘Twas one of my feats．' （by Lord Byron， mourning the

death of John Keats， 1821）．

（c） Tom， he was a piper's son，

（3s） The 4 th line of the rhyme ‘Humpty Dumpty sa．t on a wall，'

（36） Published by Simon and Schuster， 1974．

（402 ）

し

He learnt to play when he was young， '

And all the tune that he could play

Was， ‘Over the hills and far away'；

Over the hills and a great way off，

The wind shall blow my top-knot off．eO

The， refrain of this rhyme， ‘Over the hills and far away' has been used

by poets and song writers for centUries， and is thought to be very old．

It appears as early as 1670 in a black-letter b，allads， The M7ind hath blown

my Plaid away， or， A Discoinse betwixt a young M70man and the Elphin

Knight （c．1670）．

My plaid awa， my plaid awa，

And ore the hill and far awa，

My plaid shall not be blown awa， （underlined by the

writer of this paper）．

This ballad was possibly alluded to in 1549．

The following sentence by Alan Brien in New Statesman，， August 23，

1971 （quoted from Professor Keiichi Hirano's book， Mother Goose no

Sekai， ELEC Sensho， p． 148） is a beautifu1， example in whigh this refrain

of the rhyme is used：

At least， when 1 was young， adolescence was

without power but also without repsonsibility，

over the hills and far away．

marking time，

stretching on

g8． Conclusion

Nursery rhymes are generally believed to have the vitality of oral

transmission． This vitality can particularly be noticed in the case of

children， for they say ‘tell it again， tell it just the same'， and will be tena-

cious in correcting the slightest variations from the original recital on the

part of the teller． This trait in children makes their lore such a useful

（3T The l st stanza of the rhyme ‘Tom，

of 6 stanzas．

he was a piper's son'， which consists

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subject for research．

Besides， Mothef Goose's nursery rhymes seem to have many elements

of which the mentality of the English people is made up．

Ih this connection too，． we think that they' are interesting enough

to be studied both from 'literary and． linguistic angles．

October 29， 1977．

REFERENCES●

1

．2

3．

4．

05

Iona and Peter Opie（ed．），（i975）The Oxford Dictionar：ソof Nursery R勿〃zes，

Oxford University Press， London．

William S． Baring-Gould and 'Cecil Baring-Gould （with an lntroduction

and Notes）， （1967） The Annotated Mother Goose， A Merridian Book； New

American Library， New York．

Raymond Briggs （408 rhymes and 897 illustrations）， （1973） The Mother

Goo∫θTreasury， picture Pu伍ns：Hamish Ha血ilton， London．

Mother Goose Melodies （facsimile edition of the Munroe 'and Francis

“CopYright 1833” version： with an introduction and bibliographic note

by E． F． Bleiler； Dover Publications， lnc．， 1970）． ．

Keiichi耳irano，（1970）．Mo伽アGoose no Sekai， ELEC SENSHO， ELECPress， Tokyo．

N

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